What the hell is Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon?

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Earlier this week, information started to surface on those rumour-filled interwebs about a title called Far Cry 3Blood Dragon. In a somewhat inspired (but slightly confusing) move, Ubisoft chose to release a trailer for the supposed DLC on April Fool’s day. Complete with some ridiculously awesome, Terminator inspired music and 1980s style imagery with a glorious neon font, this was our first glimpse of Blood Dragon.

And I love everything about it, from those lasers to the super retro grid design and the VHS noises. Better still, this trailer appeared on a dedicated site which positions the title as a new movie from fictional director Alexis Graveyard, complete with quotes from just slightly off publications like ‘Rolling Stan’ and ‘Rotten Potatoes’.

The site also talks about the plot of the movie, thusly: “The year is 2007. It is the future. Earth has been ravaged by a nuclear war and new paths for peace must be found. A U.S. cyborg army may have found a solution: a powerful bioweapon on a distant island. A Mark IV Cyber Commando, Sergeant Rex Power Colt has been sent over to gather information and figure out what the hell is going on.”

There’s also an interview with Graveyard himself, from the utterly fake magazine Video Depot Transmissions, where he talks about filming on a lush island (which we may be familiar with) as well as dropping some hints on his main character. The interviewer mentions that he’s previously appeared in ‘Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss’… could this actually mean he’s set to be voiced by the great Michael Biehn? At least it’ll be better than Aliens: Colonial Marines.

The rest of the site looks like a relic of the early 90s internet, complete with animated graphics that used to be oh so very cool and images of a commodore 64 floppy disk and mention of the soundtrack on vinyl.

Speaking of the soundtrack, Blood Dragon also teases a couple of tracks on the site – including Power Core and Sloan’s Assault which appear to have been assembled by Power Glove, a music ensemble which seems to list Biehn and fellow actor Michael Dudikoff (Tron) as members.

Whatever they are, the tunes are awesome…

So far, a great job of viral marketing but light on the details. So what exactly is Blood Dragon?

The first assumption has to be that it’s a piece of DLC for the absurdly good Far Cry 3, but one which doesn’t rely on just adding a few more weapons or a new location. This has more in common with a Total Conversion – with everything from the graphical style to the main character utterly changed. And while Far Cry 3 itself was a lot of fun, one thing that it was missing was a strong sense of the absurd, a shot of silly which Blood Dragon looks set to deliver.

More recently, a number of screenshots have leaked from the game, along with a packshot suggesting that its set to be an XBLA title. Does that mean its going to be a standalone game, something anyone can buy regardless of whether they own Far Cry 3? There’s no telling right now, but I wouldn’t put it past Ubisoft to roll out a packshot just to mix up the rumour-mill.

Check out the screens below, showing off the games neon-infused splendour, an evocation of a very 80s idea of the future.

Will Rex be taking on a megalomaniacal enemy set on world destruction?

With the amount of information now out in the open, we should expect some more official word from Ubisoft on BloodDragon soon. Right now, the idea of matching up Far Cry 3’s slick gameplay with an over the top story and lurid visuals seems nigh on perfect. Add in the possibility of Biehn, some seriously synthy sounds and the kinds of retro touches seen on the official site and this could well be the best darn DLC ever minted.